


The End of Fire

by DarkxPrince



Series: Fading Fires [3]
Category: Dark Souls III
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 14:49:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7938676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkxPrince/pseuds/DarkxPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maraiam, Atarah, and Isasi were before the First Flame, ready to link the fire and keep the cycle going. Yet, one of them has had enough of the endless cycle and is willing to do what she must to end it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End of Fire

The First Flame was before them, barely kept alive by the bonfire within which it was contained. Maraiam stood behind her fellow Unkindled, silently observing the other two women. Isasi knelt before the First Flame, the elder pyromancer clearly enthralled by the ancient fire. Atarah stood off to the side, head bowed as if in prayer or perhaps merely lost in her own thoughts. For all intents and purposes, their quest was done and all remained was the act of linking the first flame, of giving themselves to the First Flame to revitalize the ancient fire. At least, Maraiam assumed both Isasi and Atarah were going to link the First Flame. It was strange; Maraiam should want that too and yet …

Out of the corner of her eye, Maraiam saw a summon sign and she immediately knew to whom it belonged. Well, the Firekeeper did say that should Maraiam wish it, she would be summoned at the end. Yet, did Maraiam wish to put an end to the First Flame? Was this curse of undeath worth the power the First Flame bestowed upon them? Yet was this not the reason Lord Gwyn choose to link the Flame and prolong the Age of Fire? Maraiam had always been a loyal knight, which was why she had followed him into the fire.

She stared down at her gauntlet, memories of shining silver armor so distant as to barely be an echo. When she and her fellow Black Knights stood with Lord Gwyn as he linked the fire, the First Flame scorched their armor black. It turned them to ash, scattering them to the winds yet because of the Curse of Undeath, their bodies reformed. Unlike the others who were afflicted by the Undead Curse, who slowly lost their minds as they died and brought back to life, the Black Knights immediately turned insane. They mindlessly roamed the lands, attacking anything that crossed their path. Maraiam had no memory of how long she had been like that; certainly it had been ages, possibly even centuries since that fateful first Linking of the Fire by Lord Gwyn.

Somehow she had been lucky, having her mind and memories restored to her. Was it chance, that the Firekeeper came across her battered body. One way or another, Maraiam had made her way to Firelink Shrine, dispatching the few retched Hollows which lingered at the steps. Then there was a massive Fire Demon looming over her, its flaming axe poised to strike. Maraiam barely turned in time to defend herself, her shield took the brunt of the attack, yet still she was sent flying back. It was a long battle, yet like all others it ended with her sword through the demon’s skull. The battle had taken its toll on her body and she collapsed to the ground, the Firekeeper’s skirts the last thing she saw before her vision faded.

The Firekeeper tended to her wounds and nursed her back to health. How that ended with her mind and memories returning to her, Maraiam couldn’t say. Perhaps there were higher powers manipulating everything and perhaps they had a plan for this lonely Knight of Gwyn. Either way, to show her gratitude, Maraiam granted the Firekeeper’s request and set out to find the Lords of Cinder and to Link the First Flame. All throughout her journey, the Black Knight found herself missing the companionship of the Firekeeper, oddly drawn back to her the longer she was away from the Shrine. Was there something between her and the Firekeeper? Perhaps there was, though really only time would tell.

Not that it would matter now, not with the Linking of the Fire so close at hand. So what would happen then? Would Maraiam once again turn to ash and be forced to wander the lands as nothing more than a crazed beast? And what of the Firekeeper? With the Linking of Fire complete, would she be forced to remain within a Shrine, forced to tend to the flame and keep her vigil? Was this really the right path to take? Was linking the fire worth this curse of undeath? Yet hadn’t Lord Gwyn linked the First Flame because he feared the coming age of darkness?

Was that what they were doing now? Were they letting fear rule their actions even now? And even if they did link the First Flame, kept the Age of Fire held in place, wouldn’t this all repeat itself in some distant future? Would she, Atarah, and Isasi become the new Lords of Cinder, faced with an Unkindled on their own quest to link the fire? Would this cycle of linking the fire just continue on and on and on for all eternity? For the first time in her long, long life, Maraiam started to doubt everything she had believed.

 _“Ashen One, if thou wishest yet for a world without fire, for an end to the linking of the fire … then call upon me. I am a Firekeeper, and I tend the flame … to the very end.”_ The Firekeeper’s words roared through her mind. Yes, that was what Maraiam wished for. No matter what the next age would bring, surely it was better than this endless cycle within which they were trapped. The Black Knight closed her eyes, muttering a silent prayer and steeling her resolve. Before she could summon the Firekeeper, there was something she had to do.

Maraiam stalked upon her unaware companions, drawing her sword as she did so, raising the signature blade of the Black Knights above her head. Atarah must have sensed her intention, for the Darkmoon Blade rolled away, trying to shout a warning to the elder pyromancer. Yet it was too late, by the time Isasi could react Maraiam’s blade sliced into her neck. Isasi toppled over, dead before she even hit the ground, turning to ash a second later. Isasi was not dead, it would be sometime before the pyromancer awakened at a bonfire, her body reformed and born anew due to the curse which plagued the land. Maraiam had to act quickly before the elder pyromancer returned, and all this would be for naught. Maraiam spun to face Atarah, charging the other woman before she had a chance to call upon her lightning.

“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you!” Atarah yelled, blocking her attacks. The other woman certainly had earned her title as one of the Blades of the Darkmoon, yet for all her skill it wasn’t enough. Atarah was formidable in her own right, yet given no room to draw upon her magic and summon forth her Sunlit Spears, it was only a matter of time. Maraiam’s sword plunged into the Darkmoon Blade, the other Unkindled turning to ash as her life left her.

“I’m sorry,” Maraiam muttered as she made her way back over to the Firekeeper’s summon sigil. Sheathing both her sword and shield, she held her hand over the sign, the Firekeeper materializing moments later.

Together they made their way back to where the First Flame was slowly dying, kneeling before the ancient bonfire. Reaching in, the Firekeeper cradled the small flame in her hands, resting it on her lap. All around the, the light was slowly fading away, plunging them into darkness. Maraiam closed her eyes; she had already accepted whatever fate was going to befall her. Off in the distance she could hear both Atarah and Isasi trying to make their way back, it didn’t matter though. It was already done; there was nothing that the other women could do now.

“The First Flame quickly fades,” the Firekeeper whispered, her voice so quiet yet seemingly echoing around them. “Darkness will shortly settle, yet one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness … like embers, linked by lords past.” A silence stretched out before them for what seemed like ages, the Firekeeper’s voice finally cut through it, “Ashen One, hearest thou my voice still?” Maraiam smiled beneath her helm, they would go into the new age together.


End file.
